1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a locking apparatus of a swing hinge module for mobile communication terminals, and more particularly to a locking apparatus of a swing hinge module for mobile communication terminals including a hinge fixing plate to fix a hinge shaft of the swing hinge module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, the phrase “portable communication devices” means electronic devices that are portable and enable owners of the devices to communicate through wireless communication. Such portable communication devices include hand held PCs (HHP), CT-2 cellular phones, digital phones, PCS phones, and PDAs. On the basis of their configurations, the portable communication devices may be classified into several types of wireless terminals. For example, the wireless terminals may be basically classified into a bar-type wireless terminal, a flip-type wireless terminal, and a folder-type wireless terminal. The bar-type wireless terminal has a bar-type single housing, the flip-type wireless terminal comprises a bar-type housing and a flip part rotatably attached to the housing by means of a hinge apparatus, and the folder-type wireless terminal comprises a bar-type housing and a folder part rotatably attached to the housing by means of a hinge apparatus.
Such portable communication terminals are each essentially provided with an antenna unit, data input/output units, and data transmitting/receiving units. The data input unit usually includes a keypad with which data is input by way of depressing buttons via a user's fingers or a stylus. Alternatively, a touch pad or a touch screen can be used. The data output unit generally uses an LCD.
The flip-type or folder-type communication terminal as described above are very popular since they provide sound of high sensitivity and are readily available in small sizes and light weights.
A sliding-type or swing-type communication terminal having a pair of housings movable or rotatable open or closed relative to each other while facing each other is also used, which satisfies various applications in demand by the public. In addition, a mobile communication terminal capable of concurrently performing an opening/closing operation of the folder-type terminal and an opening/closing operation of the swing-type terminal has been developed.
Nevertheless, means for perfectly performing an opening/closing operation of each conventional mobile communication terminal has not been provided. Especially for the swing-type communication terminal having a pair of housings rotatable open or closed relative to each other while facing each other, it is troublesomely required that a user of the swing-type communication terminal manually rotate one of the housings up to a position where communication is possible.
In order to solve the problem as described above, a semiautomatic swing-type mobile communication terminal has been proposed. The semiautomatic swing-type mobile communication terminal has a swing hinge module including a hinge housing, a hinge shaft, first and second hinge cams, a coil spring, and a hinge stopper successively disposed in an accommodating space defined in the hinge housing, and a hinge cap to surround the outer circumference of the hinge housing. The hinge cap is securely fixed to one end of the hinge shaft by means of screws. However, the swing hinge module has a problem in that the screws may become loosened as the housings of the swing-type mobile communication terminal are repetitively rotated, and thus a gap between the housings is increased, which lowers rotatability and durability of the swing hinge module.